The Reluctant Elf (Kindle Single) (11 page)

‘That’s right. There’s a lot to tell you, Aunt Kate, but most importantly, the reviewer loved the B&B and he’s going to give you the rating you need.’

‘Oh that is wonderful news! So everything went well then?’

‘Except for the fire,’ says Mabel.

‘Like I said, there’s a lot to tell you. Are you tired though? We can always talk more tomorrow.’

‘Don’t you dare leave, Lottie. I want to hear every detail. Especially about this boyfriend of yours.’

Aunt Kate is mightily impressed with our ingenuity at the B&B. I try glossing over some of the gorier details but Mabel is a stickler for the whole truth, not to mention a very observant little girl who seemed to know that Danny and I liked each other before we realised it ourselves.

‘I’m just sorry that I’ve missed Christmas,’ Aunt Kate says. ‘I do so love Christmas.’

‘You haven’t missed it. We’re staying here until you get out, and then we’ll all have Christmas together.’

‘Will you really?’

I nod. ‘I’m not going to go back to London just yet. You’ll need help while your leg is healing, and I can work remotely for a few weeks. I’ll have my computer couriered up. Mabel doesn’t have to be back in school until mid-January.’

‘That will be wonderful, Lottie,’ Aunt Kate says. ‘It’s all quite wonderful, really.’

As promised, Danny is waiting for us when we leave the hospital.

‘Aunt Kate’s awake!’ Mabel says. ‘And we get to stay in Wales to have another Christmas. Does that mean we get more presents from Father Christmas, Mummy?’

‘No, honey, I’m afraid he doesn’t do encore performances. You’ll have to wait till next year, but remember you’ve still got lots of gifts at home.’

‘You are staying here for a while?’ Danny asks, grabbing my hand.

‘For at least a few weeks,’ I say.

‘I fly to the US tomorrow, but I’ll be back in a week.’

‘And then…’

‘And then we’ll work something out,’ he says. ‘It’s not ideal with me here and you in London, but it is only a few hours by train. I could come down and, if you don’t mind travelling a bit, you and Mabel could come here too?’

We kiss again. I can’t seem to get enough of him. ‘I don’t mind at all. What do you say, Mabel? Would you like to spend more weekends at Aunt Kate’s?’

‘Definitely, Mummy. Now that Mingus and I are friends, he’d be sad if we don’t see each other. And Aunt Kate still needs to make me her Welsh cakes. I could murder one of those.’

‘I’ll tell you what, Mabel,’ says Danny. ‘I’ll look up a recipe on the internet and make you some when we get back.’

We both stare at him.

‘That’s okay, Danny,’ Mabel says, patting his shoulder. ‘We’d better wait for Aunt Kate to make them.’

The End

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About the Author

Michele Gorman is the USA TODAY bestselling author of eight romantic comedies. Born and raised in the US, Michele has lived in London for 16 years. She is very fond of naps, ice cream and Richard Curtis films but objects to spiders and the word “portion”.

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